Tag Archives: edible gifts

I can’t remember where I found this Donal Skehan recipe for sea salted caramels but glad I took a screen shot of it on my phone as I can’t find it online now. Donal being Irish, the original recipe calls for Irish sea salt but I love the Cornish sea salt so I used that instead. These caramels are soft and chewy so don’t need a warning for those with fillings and make an ideal christmas gifts. The salt balances the sweetness of the caramels and makes them pretty easy to eat.

I saw this Sugar & Spice Candied Nuts recipe on the Smitten Kitchen site last Christmas but I had already made all my gifts/run out of time so I made sure to fit these in this year. They are very quick and easy to make but are very difficult not to keep snacking on. I made up jars for friends and kept the left overs for myself for Christmas time but unfortunately polished them off today on the first day of my 2 week holiday. Oops!

These whisky and ginger truffles make an excellent homemade Christmas gift and are pretty easy to make, save from covering yourself in melted chocolate as you roll them into balls! I sadly also found out last week that they are extremely comforting after I had to say goodbye to my faithful feline friend Erin. Her final vets bill will no doubt result in everyone getting homemade gifts for Christmas this year and possibly 2015……..

This apple & walnut chutney was a hit last Christmas and I am very behind with the edible gift preperations this year so it’s making its second appearance in the hampers! I’m not really getting into my usual Christmas spirit but had to get a wriggle on with chutney making so that it had time to mature before the festive season hits. This one is great with cheeses and cold meats too. I will bring you the recipe for the savoury biscuits shortly.

These Romkugler are not rum truffles in the conventional sense, I guess they are most likely the original cake pop. Created by Danish bakers as a way to use up left over cake, this recipe uses porridge oats instead of cake but you can substitute the oats for cake for a more authentic rum ball. These are quick to whizz together if you have a processor and are easy – if a little messy – to make. This recipe is taken from Signe Johansen’s book Scandilicious Baking.

Jars at the ready it’s another Christmas jarring recipe……I have scoured the recipe land in search of the perfect mincemeat and a few years ago think I found it! After trying various traditional suet mincemeats, baked mincemeats and veggie mincemeats, Hettie Potter’s suet-free mincemeat from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess has got to be the best. Not least because it contains half a bottle of cider which is always going to win a Cornish girl over but it is the juiciest fruitiest mincemeat going with a satisfying boozy kick.

I use the large glass jars that supermarket own brand golden syrup comes in and find this recipe perfectly fills 3 of these 680g jars. Each jar makes about 2 dozen mince pies.

Of all the chutneys I make at Christmas time this caramelised red onion chutney is the one that people are still talking about in summer, so much so that I have had to start making a mid year batch to tide people over, myself included! Aside from pairing it with cold meats or a cheese board, its excellent at pepping up cheese on toast, on pizza with goats cheese or in a quiche. I found this amazing recipe courtesy of the Guardian website and the recipe is by Fraser Doherty of Super Jam fame.

I use large red onions so find that makes approximately 1.4 litres which is roughly enough for 3 medium 300ml jars and 3 small 180ml jars. The recipe isn’t specific on what sort of brown sugar so I use 100g light brown and 100g dark brown sugar to cover all bases. And again, as per my other chutney post, your house will smell of onions and vinegar for a good few days after making this.